Liability
by Nice-one
Summary: An additional Delena scene to ep 2x02. A tiny first step in the right direction for these two. Focuses mostly on how Damon, after being nothing short of evil for so long, might be a bit messed up when it comes to the difference between right and wrong.


**Disclaimer:** I don't own The Vampire Diaries. Don't sue.

**A/N:** I promised you guys I'd be back! This is pretty short and I'm not even sure why I wrote it. I know we're a couple of episodes into the second season now, but "The Return" just blew me away in all it's craziness and what happened in that episode was my inspiration for this. I have truly lost my faith in Delena after this episode, because I don't think there is ever going to be a believable way for them to get together after what he did. It's not believable for her to ever forgive him, in my opinion. Still, I want the writers to try and prove me wrong! This is a scene where I attempted to take the first step in the right direction with these two. It's sort of an additional scene to episode 2x02 and takes place when Elena decides to walk home alone after the Ferris wheel-scene with Stefan. So spoilers are up to and including 2x02. This was written before I'd watched 2x03, hence the whole conversation about the ring.

Focuses mostly on how Damon, after so many years of being nothing short of evil, might be a little messed up when it comes to the difference between right and wrong.

I hope you'll enjoy this a little, even though it's a very serious one-shot and sort of lacks any witty banter. It's pretty silly, I guess, but I just wrote it one night and figured I'd upload it. Your opinion on this would be greatly appreciated, so please drop me a few lines when you're done reading. Thanks in advance. I thought the quote below fitted this conversation perfectly.

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"**A woman either loves or hates; she knows no medium." - Syrus**

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_Liability_

Elena turned the corner to her street, arms crossed over her chest as she tried to deal with everything that had happened today. Stefan had been a little reluctant to let her walk home alone tonight, but she'd managed to convince him, assuring him she'd be fine and she just needed to clear her head. They'd parted with a kiss and now here she was, nearing home, her head still filled with too many thoughts to even consider going to bed. She wouldn't get a single second of sleep.

She then became aware of the person following her. He didn't make a lot of noise, but it was just enough for Elena to recognize it. She sighed.

"Go away, Damon."

How long had he been following her? He sped up his pace now that he'd been discovered (although Elena doubted he'd been trying very hard to be stealth) and when he caught up with her, he slowed down to match his pace with hers.

"Let me try this again." Elena continued, not looking up at him. "Leave me alone, Damon! Or is that too subtle for you?"

"You know, it's dangerous for a girl like you out on the streets of Mystic Falls so late at night. I'm merely looking out for you." Damon spoke in his signature seductive voice, completely ignoring her tactics to get rid of him.

"Hasn't the real danger here in Mystic Falls just caught up with me?" She bitched.

"Oh, that's funny. See, if I wanted you dead, I had the perfect opportunity tonight. It sure as hell would've been poetic."

"But that's not your style, is it? You'd rather just kill everybody I love. Jeremy, Caroline."

"Speaking of: how _is_ Caroline doing?" Damon asked, almost purring the girl's name.

"Not staked. No thanks to you though." She answered him, still not looking up, as she stubbornly continued to walk.

"Oh, come on. I figured this walked would've cleared your head. You know what has to be done. Caroline needs to die…_again_. She's a liability. And just for the record: you're way overreacting on the whole 'me killing Jeremy'-thing. He had one of those nifty rings, didn't he?" The vampire spoke up, emphasizing the word 'nifty' in his careless way.

Elena stopped walking and turned to Damon. "I'm overreacting? You _killed_ him, Damon! You had no idea about the ring!"

"Who says I didn't?"

"I do! You had no idea! And even if you did, that doesn't make any of it right. You don't just go around snapping people's neck. It's not a joke or something that is ever going to be okay for you to do! I don't care how things work in your world, but I have to live in the real one where even the possibility of a dead brother is too much for me to handle!"

"The real world? And what world do I live in? An imaginary one?" Damon asked, sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"Yes. It's called Damon's world where there are no rules and he just does as he pleases. And I'm no longer going to be a part of it. You and me are done, Damon."

With that she continued to walk again, a little surprised, but mostly relieved, when he didn't follow her.

"You know what Katherine said to me when I asked her if she ever loved me?" Damon suddenly called out.

Elena didn't want to stop. She wanted to keep walking, get away from him and never look back. Yet, her curiosity won it over her determination to ban him from her life. She slowly turned around and looked at the man standing only a few feet away from her in the dim light of the street.

"She said she never did. She said it'd always been Stefan." He finished, his voice softer now and a lot more vulnerable than she'd ever heard it.

Elena took in these words as a slight pinch of sympathy went through her body. She knew what this meant. Yet, she couldn't bring herself to care enough.

"She's smarter than I thought she was." She then spoke, regretting her words only a little when they were out.

With that she turned back around, realizing she'd reached her house now and headed for the porch. Not completely unexpectedly, Damon suddenly showed up in front of her, a darkness in his eyes that scared her. She'd seen it before, not too long ago.

"You changed your mind? You _are_ going to kill me?" She asked, lightly, not allowing herself to be intimidated.

"You can't hold this against me forever, Elena. I'm a vampire. I kill people. It's what we do. What did you expect?"

She shook her head at the absurdity of his words. He'd just voiced the exact reason why she could no longer be a part of his life.

"I hate you." She muttered under her breath, not hiding her disbelief at the words he'd just spoken.

"No, you don't. I bet you wish you could, but you don't."

"Let me through, Damon. I'm going home."

"No. You and I are going to talk."

"Oh, talk, huh? Until I say something you don't want to hear again? Whose neck are you snapping this time? Jenna might be home and I assure you she doesn't have one of those _nifty _rings, so this time the outcome should be exactly what you wanted." She said, sarcastically.

"Don't tempt me."

Elena's gaze darkened as she stepped forward and pushed Damon out of the way.

"We're done, Damon. Forever."

He allowed her to push him away and she continued to walk to the porch, but he showed up on the first step when she reached it. Their bodies were touching and his gaze was on her. She felt the anger boiling up inside of her.

"My God, Damon! You don't understand it, do you? You're so screwed up that you can't even understand that what you did is unforgivable! You're insane! Psychotic and insane!"

"This is good. Let it all out." Damon smirked, tilting his head a little.

"You killed my little brother!" Elena yelled, feeling how she was losing control. "You just killed him without even giving it a second of thought! And you did it out of…spite or…frustration! I trusted you, Damon! You were my friend! And you knew that Jeremy is the only person I have left, but you just didn't care! You _still _don't care! And you said it right the night Vicky died: none of this matters to you! And I see now that none of this will _ever_ matter to you. You're too dangerous to be around, Damon!"

The tears had welled up in her eyes now, her heartbeat had increased and her heart was beating so fast now she was sure she could pass out any second now. And more importantly so, she realized she been hitting Damon's chest with every sentence she'd just spoken, her fists still resting there, even somewhat comfortably. It's why she didn't move them before forcing herself to calm down and continue her speech.

"I can't ever let you harm anybody I love again. And you_ will _do it again. Because you're right. You _are_ a vampire. But that's not the reason you will hurt me and the people around me again. That's a choice. A choice you made a long time ago. And because of that, the lines between wrong and right are just too blurry for you to understand now. _You're_ a liability, Damon. And I can't have that in my life."

When she finally dared to look up at him again, she realized the message had gotten through. She knew him well enough to see that much. It wasn't in his body language or the expression on his face. It was in the subtle change in his eyes. His eyes that always gave away his deepest thoughts. He gently took her fists in his hands and looked up at her.

"I do understand, okay? I get it. All I can say is that I'm sorry. And I mean that."

"It's not enough." She whispered, slowly shaking her head.

"I understand that, too." He nodded, letting go of her hands and simply walking off.

She didn't turn around to watch him walk away.

"But you don't hate me." He suddenly called out. His words were enough for her to turn around after all.

Damon had stopped walking midway and had only turned his head to speak those words. His eyes locked with hers.

"I don't hate you." She eventually softly agreed. "Yet that doesn't change a thing."

He nodded slowly, looking away. "I'm going to fix this, you know."

"You can't, Damon."

Another quick nod followed.

"I think I can." He disagreed. "I'll see you around, Elena."

This time she did watch him walk away and even continued to stare at the spot he'd turned the corner for a good minute. She didn't understand how the anger she'd been feelings towards him had suddenly faded a little. How could that be? After what he'd done?

And for only a second, she believed that perhaps there was a way for him to fix things. For just a second, she nearly prayed there would be. That there was a way to get her friend back. Then she shrugged off the odd feeling and returned to the real world. Where his actions would _never _be forgiven.

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**A/N: **Well, that's it! Please leave a review. They make me smile and are the perfect motivation for me to keep writing! Thanks for reading and hopefully I didn't disappoint!

Steffanie


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